


Flying High!

by littledemon66



Category: Rune Factory 4
Genre: And Doug is a dumbass, Awkwardness, But it ends up fine don't worry, Dylas is a worrywart, First Dates, Fluff, I used dialogue from Doug and Dylas's airship dates for this, Lots of banter if you like that sort of thing, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Near Death Experiences, but not too awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23745199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littledemon66/pseuds/littledemon66
Summary: Doug finally asks Dylas out for a date after Lest forces him to. To his surprise, Dylas agrees and they go to the airship the next day.This fic is literally just them going on a date.
Relationships: Doug/Dylas (Rune Factory)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Flying High!

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this pretty much in one sitting and it was really fun to do! I've never written these dumbasses before so they might be a little OOC. I took a lot from canon dialogue to keep things as close to canon as possible.

“Come on, Doug. Just ask him out already.” Lest leaned against the shelf next to the dwarf. Doug was restocking the crops that had come in the day before. He scoffed and rolled his eyes at the comment.

“You kidding? No way.” Doug’s cheeks were tinted pink and he avoided Lest’s gaze. “You’re crazy.”

“I’m crazy? At least I give birthday presents to people in person.” Lest smacked Doug’s shoulder playfully.

“That was one time!” Doug denied loudly.

“One? You’ve done that every year since Dylas came to Selphia.” Lest argued.

“Well, uh…” Doug paused. “You don’t know that it was me! It could’ve been someone else that left corn cereal!”

Lest glanced at Doug with a deadpan stare. Doug averted his gaze in shame. So what if he had talked about Dylas’s birthday? Every year, he clearly said he  _ wouldn’t _ get him corn cereal! It wasn’t his fault that someone had left that exact thing every year!

“Doug… The only one who doesn’t know about your major crush on Dylas is Dylas.” Lest looked towards the exit and suddenly straightened his stance. Then the front door opened, signaling a customer. Doug turned to face the newcomer, plastering his customer service smile on his face.

Of course, because saying his name always seemed to make him appear, Dylas stood at the entrance. Doug’s grin dropped, quickly replaced by a scowl.

“What do you want?” Doug asked curtly. Lest nudged Doug’s side with his elbow. The redhead ignored the obvious signal.

“Why are  _ you _ here?” Dylas shot back. They glared at each other for a moment before Doug spoke.

“I always work on Thursdays! You should know that!” Doug yelled accusingly.

“And why would he need to know that?” Lest butt in, smugly grinning. Doug shot a quick glare in his direction before answering.

“So I can have a decent day at work! I’m bored enough here.” Doug narrowed his eyes at Lest, who simply laughed. Doug fought to kill the blush on his face so he wouldn’t be questioned about it.

Dylas looked at the pair, confused by their interactions. Did he come in at the wrong time? Or maybe he was interrupting something important? Dylas watched on in absolute bewilderment as Doug and Lest were fiercely whispering to each other. They seemed to come to a conclusion because Doug turned to face him.

“So what did you want?” Doug purposefully turned his back to Lest, refusing to look at him. Dylas looked at them both suspiciously. They were hiding something.

“I was gonna pick up some groceries for the restaurant, but if you two are busy…” Dylas trailed off.

“Oh no, I was just leaving.” Lest replied hastily. He turned to the shelves, but was still clearly listening. “Just picking up some last minute things.”

“Porcoline ordered some ingredients a couple days ago. Do you have them?” Dylas looked at Lest warily for a moment but then looked back at the shorter man.

“That crap? It’s in the corner. Take all three of the boxes.” Doug waved at the back corner of the store. Sure enough, there were three small boxes stacked up.

“Wow, I guess you actually do your job. That’s a first.” Dylas muttered, walking over to the boxes. He heard Doug mumble something and Lest stifle a laugh. He picked the surprisingly light boxes up and saw the other two frantically whispering.

“You two sure there’s no problem?” Dylas asked again. All this whispering was making him anxious. Doug began stuttering out a denial before Lest interfered.

“Oh Dylas, before you go, Doug has something to ask you.” Lest grinned. Doug began to shout, shaking his head feverishly. After what seemed like hours, Doug stopped verbal assault on the poor farmer. Dylas started to debate whether or not to put the boxes down while he waited, but then the dwarf looked at him nervously.

“Tomorrow, um…” Doug’s face rivaled the color of his hair. Was he embarrassed? “You! Me! Airship tomorrow!”

Lest smacked his palm against his face in disappointment, the resulting sound being much louder than expected. The hand slowly slid down his face, pulling the skin under his eyes down. He looked like he was ready to die after what Doug said. Dylas, on the other hand, was even more lost than he was before. Was this a challenge? Did Doug finally snap and ask for a fight?

“Look, I’m not interested in a fight, dwarf.” Dylas really wasn’t interested in physically fighting Doug. Their rivalry was all in good fun to him and wasn’t really meant to be antagonistic. At first, they really didn’t like each other, but as time went on, Dylas began to warm up to the loudmouthed boy.

“N-Not for a fight, dumbass!” As Doug was grasping for words to explain himself, Lest groaned.

“For a date.” Lest supplied, causing Doug’s to redden further. “You two have been dancing around each other for years. What Doug is  _ trying _ to say is that he wants to meet you tomorrow at the airship for a date.”

Dylas knew his cheeks were red now. A date? With Doug? Well, he wasn’t against the idea, he mused. Judging by how the hopeful expression on Doug’s face was slipping away, he had already been quiet for too long. How was he supposed to word this acceptance?

“10 o’clock. Be on time.” is what Dylas ended up saying. Not the nicest way to accept a date, but Doug seemed happy enough, if his beaming smile was indicator enough.

“Yeah, okay!” Doug nodded with excitement. Dylas hid a small smile behind the boxes he was carrying.

“See you tomorrow then.” Dylas bid Doug and Lest goodbye and left the grocery store. Before he closed the door, he heard Doug thanking Lest over and over.

Before anything else, Dylas had to deliver the ingredients Porcoline ordered. Then maybe he would go talk to Leon. He definitely didn’t want to look like a fool on this date. He supposed that he could endure a little teasing for the day.

~~~~~

The next day, Doug was pacing his room at about 9:30 in the morning. He wanted to run to the airship with every fiber of his being, but he would seem desperate if he was there a half hour early. He raked a hand through his hair, tousling it. Maybe a more casual look was better? It’s not like Dylas was some chick he just met. Would it look weird if he looked like he put effort into his appearance? Probably. But he didn’t want to look like he didn’t care. Frustrated, Doug ruffled his own hair, letting it look like it always did.

Itching with anticipation, Doug decided to go to the airship early. No good was going to come of him pacing his room. He left his room and descended down the stairs. The store was empty except for Blossom, who was rearranging a few items.

“Granny, I’m going out!” Doug yelled when he had gotten to the bottom of the stairs.

“Alright, dear. Do you have a nice date today?” Blossom asked out of the blue. Wait, did she know?

“You knew?!” Doug froze in place.

“No, I just assumed. You were very happy yesterday and today you look nervous. It reminds me of when I was your age.” Blossom chuckled to herself. “Are you going to tell me who your date is now or later?”

“Later…” Doug murmured. “I gotta go now, but I’ll be back for dinner.”

“I’ll have some nice risotto ready for when you come back. Have a good day, Doug. I want to hear all about your date over dinner.” Blossom smiled at him and continued to organize the shelves.

“Bye, Granny!” Doug left the grocery store, throwing a goodbye over his shoulder.

Once he was outside, he saw Lest running towards him. His eyebrows furrowed. Lest always ran but he couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong.

“Doug! You would not believe what I saw!” Lest didn’t seem out of breath at all, even though he had clearly been running.

“Should I be scared or…” Doug had time to kill anyway so he decided to hear him out.

“So I was going to the restaurant to make sure Dylas wasn’t skipping out on you and I saw him waiting at the airship!” Lest elbowed Doug. “And that was at 9 in the morning! He just couldn’t wait for your date!”

“Wait, since 9 in the morning?!” That meant that Dylas had been waiting for almost an hour! “I gotta go then! I’ll see you later, Lest!”

“Have fun!” Lest yelled to Doug’s retreating figure, laughing at both him and Dylas.

Doug had run to the restaurant, slowing his pace so Dylas wouldn’t see him running. When Doug looked at the airship, Dylas was standing there patiently. Doug forced himself to walk over instead of running.

“Someone’s early.” Doug commented when he approached Dylas.

“I just got here. Don’t get too excited.” Dylas’s tail swished behind him.

“Well I heard you were here since 9.” Doug decided to call the other man out. By the way Dylas stiffened, he clearly wasn’t expecting Doug to know. ”You were excited, huh?”

“Well, uh…” Dylas scrambled to make up an excuse, but Doug cut him off.

“You don’t have to deny it. I’m irresistible.” Doug joked. “Now come on.”

Doug grabbed Dylas’s elbow and pulled him onto the airship. Unbeknownst to Doug, Dylas found himself agreeing with the joking comment. The little dwarf had a boyish charm to him. Maybe that was it.

The airship took off, floating aimlessly. The pair stood at the bow of the ship, looking over the landscape. Every so often, one of them would make a comment about something they saw.

“The view out here is great. I never got to see something like this before.” Dylas found himself saying.

“Yeah, it is. Although you aren’t half bad either.” Doug’s face had reddened after he spoke. His eyes were wide as well. He had not meant to say that out loud.

Doug apprehensively looked over at Dylas to see his reaction. To his surprise, Dylas was also red in the face. The other man looked down at Doug with an unreadable expression on his face.

“You say that to everybody?” Dylas softly asked.

“What? No!” Doug adamantly denied. “Idiot…”

“You sure about that?” Dylas liked seeing Doug squirm. Maybe this was how Leon felt? He had to admit, there was something satisfying about watching someone come undone in front of you.

“I'm positive! Sheesh!” Doug crossed his arms and childishly pouted. The gesture was far cuter than it should have been. “I swear to the heavens! You're the only one I--”

Doug quickly stopped himself from finishing that sentence. Dylas waited for him to speak again. Where was that sentence going?

“W-well, I guess that's enough for today…” Doug didn’t dare look at Dylas.

Dylas smothered a smile. Doug was awfully shy. He was almost impressed that the smaller man was able to even say that. The redhead must have seen Dylas fighting back a smile because he scowled.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.” Doug puffed his cheeks out. Again, another innocent gesture that was too cute for his own good.

“I’m not laughing. But you’re really shy, aren’t you?” Dylas said. It was an endearing trait.

“Whatever…” Doug looked away, embarrassed. “Hey, look at that over there!”

They had seemingly forgotten about their short moment and continued to enjoy their day. Sometimes Lest would invite some of the citizens of Selphia out, so both Doug and Dylas were familiar with some of the places they passed.

“I think that’s the Water Ruins over there. That’s where Lest found you, right?.” Doug reminisced. Doug remembered seeing Lest come back with an unconscious person one day. He never would have imagined that he’d be on a date with said person.

“Yeah. I owe him a lot. I know I didn’t make it easy for him.” Dylas nodded along. “But I’m glad he was able to bring me back.”

“I guess I’m a little thankful for that too.” Doug realized what he said and backtracked a little. “Well, sorta. Not really. Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Dylas laughed. “The view from here is just stunning, isn't it?”

“Yeah, it is.” Doug sighed. It had been a long time since he had felt this comfortable. He never really had time where he could just relax.

“Don't lean too far forward though!” Dylas warned. That gave Doug a wicked idea.

“I know.” Then Doug leaned dangerously forward to point at a building. “Hey, what's that big building below us?!”

Then the airship shook, making Doug lose his balance. He was already perilously close to the edge. Another step and he would be falling to his death.

“Wh-whoa! Look out!” Dylas shot a hand out to grab Doug by the arm. He pulled the boy closer to him, breathing heavily.

“...Oogh…” Doug was shaking slightly. He had almost fallen directly to his death.

“You idiot!” Dylas yelled, a tone of fear underlying his voice. “What is wrong with you?! Look, just stay close to me, okay?”

“O-okay…” Doug was too out of it to argue. But now he was pressed close against Dylas, which was definitely worth it. His jacket was warm, likely because of the fur.

“You almost died, you know?” Dylas’s voice was stern, but Doug could hear the concern.

“Yeah, I know.” Doug couldn’t help but grin a little, despite the situation. “But hey, now I know you care.”

Dylas glared at him. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say.

“I will throw you off of this airship myself.” Dylas finally settled on.

“You wouldn’t… I think.” Doug felt Dylas’s fast heartbeat because of their close proximity. “Man, you must’ve been scared. Your heartbeat is racing.”

“Well maybe if you weren’t such a child, then I wouldn’t have to worry.” Dylas lay an arm around Doug’s shoulders.

“So you  _ were _ worried.” Doug laughed a little. Near death situations were apparently good to check if someone cared about you.

“...Shut up.” Dylas hugged Doug tighter. “You’re a moron, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah. You say it all the time.” Doug rolled his eyes. “Your jacket smells like fish.”

“I will kill you with my bare hands, midget.” Dylas threatened.

“I’d like to see you try, gelding.” Doug bantered. “Push me off the side yourself.”

“Keep talking and I will.” Dylas lightly shoved Doug, but still kept him at an arm’s length.

Out of playful spite, Doug started talking about anything that came to mind, just to see how long it would take until Dylas killed him. Surprisingly, Dylas didn’t seem to mind. By the time they got back to Selphia, the rest of the town was shocked to see both Doug and Dylas laughing together.

“I’ll see you around, I guess.” Dylas said awkwardly. They were standing in front of the restaurant since Dylas had to go back to work.

“If you make this awkward, I’m going to punch you.” Doug groaned. “Nothing’s really changed. We can just be normal.”

“I… Okay.” Dylas still looked unconvinced. Doug sighed in annoyance. He motioned for Dylas to squat down. The Guardian complied, leaning down slightly so he was just over eye level with Doug. Doug grabbed his face and kissed his cheek.

“Now go to work, loser.” Doug put his hand on Dylas’s face, pushing him away. Dylas’s face was warm to the touch. “I’m off.”

Before Dylas could say anything, Doug fled the scene. He yelled a quick goodbye and ran home. Dylas stood there, frozen in place. He softly placed his hand on his cheek. His cheeks reddened and he rushed into the restaurant. He ignored the questions Meg and Porcoline bombarded him with and swiftly got ready for work.

After Dylas got ready in his room, he came down to the restaurant to work. Meg looked at him a few times, expecting some sort of answer. He internally promised to tell her about his date after the restaurant closed for the day.

When the evening rolled around, the bachelors all came in for dinner. After seeing the way Doug and Dylas didn’t fight all evening, Leon hid his grin behind his fan. Kiel leaned over to Leon and quietly asked why he was grinning. The latter shook his head, laughing silently at the couple. Dylas glowered at Leon, keeping him from telling anyone else. But from seeing how the former rivals were acting, Leon knew that he had more than enough material to make fun of Dylas for ages.

**Author's Note:**

> I may write for RF4 in the future because I really like all of their personalities. Depends on if I get smacked in the face with inspiration. If there's a ship name for Dylas/Doug, let me know what it is! I haven't really seen any major ship names yet.
> 
> Leave a kudos/comment if you enjoyed because I thirst for validation!


End file.
